The Southern California Griffins won the Southwest RCT Sunday in blistering heat in Bakersfield, Calif.

With MVP performances from Liam Jimmons (forwards, Back Bay), and Evan Clark (backs, Santa Monica), SoCal overcame a Saturday loss to Northern California to exact revenge early Sunday morning with a 26-24 victory.

"The first half was the best rugby I'd ever seen as a part of the Griffins program," said Southern California Coach Jeff Bonnett. "Credit to NorCal; they fought back. It was a fantastic game."

That result left both Southern California and Northern California 2-1 with games against Washington to come. NorCal led in points difference with a +56 versus SoCal’s +9. Assuming both beat Washington in the later games, Southern California needed to surpass NorCal’s winning margin by 48.

Northern California finished 3-1 with a 31-22 victory over Washington. But the Loggers wilted in the Bakersfield heat in their second game, and Southern California rolled 82-8. The game was played at the hottest part of a hot weekend and the Loggers just had trouble.

The win made the final standings thus:

SoCal 3-1 +83

NorCal 3-1 +65

Washington 0-4 -148

"It was very emotional," said Bonnett, who credited captain Steven Branham and vice captains Clark and Aaron Matthews for turning th tournament around fot eh Griffins. "Some of the seniors we've coached in this program for three or four years. It was a huge privilege to be a part of these boys growing up." 

Northern California won the JV competition, while the MVP honors went to Washington’s David Ainuu (forwards, Prairie Mustangs), and Southern California’s Patrick Madden (backs, Aztec Warriors).

The games were all 60 minutes, with players still help to the limit of 90 minutes in a day. The #4 officials kept tabs on the minutes players by every player.